1629 Paradisus of John Parkinson

Jude Haverington tylus.seklos@gmail.com
Thu, 13 Feb 2014 08:24:50 PST
Test:   Am I now able to post on the PBS with this new email ?

For those with GMAIL,   how can I change the subject line ?


On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 11:23 AM, Jim McKenney
<jamesamckenney@verizon.net>wrote:

> Leo wrote:"I would think Parkinson's title refers to gardens in general,
> and might be translated simply as
> _The Garden_."
>
> I won't disagree with you, Leo, but to translate Parkinson's title as "The
> Garden" is to deny the multilayered meaning of the actual title. The title
> of the book is "Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris". The text of the
> book is in English, not, as the title might suggest, in Latin. The title is
> an elaborate pun on the author's name, a pun which for its effectiveness
> depends on translating "paradisus" as "park". The only nominative noun in
> the title is the word "Paradisus"; that's why the usual abbreviation of the
> title is "Paradisus" rather than "Paradisi". "Paradisi" is to be construed
> as a genitive singular noun, and the phrase "paradisi in sole" is thus
> understood to mean "Parkinson's". That gives the translation "Parkinson's
> Earthly Paradise";  and, as befits the man who was apothecary to James
> I and Royal Botanist to Charles I,  "paradise" indicated a park, hardly
> the little scrap of ground most of us know as a garden. Yet the actual plans
>  for planting included in the Paradisus are those for little knot gardens.
>
> The paradise garden tradition is still strong in England: where else on
> earth is there the combination of tradition, climate and cultural
> aspiration to support such a thing? Edward Hyams' The English Garden
> (Abrams, 1966) was this American reader's introduction to this tradition.
>
> Jim McKenney
> Montgomery County, Maryland, USA,  USDA zone 7, where the snowfall has
> stopped and the shoveling will soon begin - but first, I'll bake some
> chocolate chip cookies to have as a reward when I finish the shoveling (16"
> of snow on the table on the deck).
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, February 12, 2014 8:25 PM, Leo A. Martin <leo@possi.org>
> wrote:
>
> Jim McKenney wrote
>
> > ...in his 1629 Paradisus, John Parkinson....
>
> >From what I've read, the very earliest gardens known, in what is now
> called the Middle
> East, were walled enclosures with water features. They were known by a
> name that today
> has morphed into "paradise." Gardens of this design are common in Roman
> and Arabic
> architecture, as can be seen in ancient buildings in Spain and Pompeii,
> and a modern
> recreation of a Pompeiian villa at the old Getty museum in Malibu,
> California. I would
> think Parkinson's title refers to gardens in general, and might be
> translated simply as
> _The Garden_.
>
> Saffron was no doubt grown in or near such gardens. Thus we have both
> bulbous and blue
> content to this message. Gastil, if you have trouble with Colchicum, you
> can probably
> grow saffron without too much trouble in well-drained soil.
>
> Leo Martin
> Phoenix Arizona USA
>
> _______________________________________________
> pbs mailing list
> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/
> _______________________________________________
> pbs mailing list
> pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
> http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/
>



More information about the pbs mailing list